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"Roar!" - A Review of Weavile/Zoroark GX

Hey everybody!

It’s been a while since I’ve written an article for 60Cards, and boy does it feel good to be back. I’ve been terribly busy with school, as well as making new relationships with people and forming miniature networks in preparation for my career as a marketer. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a little difficult balancing Pokemon and real life scenarios – although it hasn’t affected my playing abilities as much (or my ability to bang out a fire decklist), it’s been disappointing not being able to play in as many events as I used to. Last year, I was able to attend all four internationals with relative ease, and nowadays I find it very difficult to even hit up my hometown one in North America. Watching Oceania and Europe go by pained me, but it’s important as a person that I go with the ebb and flow of things because it’s vital to grow. My headspace currently though is in Expanded going into Costa Mesa, however I couldn’t help but mention the innovation most players are putting into decks as of late.

Limitless is usually my go to resource for any decklist from previous tournaments – one of the coolest features I’ve found is that Limitless not only shows you up to date decklists (posted by real life players), but they also tell you who else ran that exact same list. I think that’s cute how you can see who worked on each innovation, because as time goes on you might see deviations from team to team, or coincidental decklists where two players were unaware of each other playing mirror decklists. It’s also really cool how you can view who played a unique decklist that event, and then compare it to other top decks immediately. I highly suggest for people to use Limitless alongside 60Cards as their go-to resources for tournament preparation, because they’re both essential tools for success and while help take you to new heights!

Table of contents

Introduction

The specific decklist that I’ll be talking about today was one that was piloted by top players, such as Philip Schulz, Robin Schulz, Nico Alabas, and Sam Chen. This is a deck that had new concepts implemented within Ultra Prism being released, and is the newest archetype to look out for on the block. Key thing to note – Malmo Regionals and St. Louis occurred on the same weekend, which means that since they occurred simultaneously, most of these team members worked together. I know for sure that Nico, Robin, and Philip worked as a team to design the decklist, but I’m unsure about Sam Chen – did he work alongside these European stars to create the list? It’s a little foggy, but I’m very convinced that there was talks between these unusual collaborators, because there’s virtually no way they all came out with identical decks. There are way too many unique inclusions in this powerhouse deck in order to say it was a “coincidence”. While I haven’t directly contacted Sam to ask him, not any of the Europeans, it’s safe to say that this was a mutual effort between these four powerhouses. Without further introduction, here’s the list that took Malmo and St. Louis by storm!

Energy (8)

This deck’s optimal strategy is just the same as any other Zoroark deck – it’s just a straightup beatdown from start to finish. Most Zoroark decks will want to begin with Brigette to search out more Zorua, and then swarm a field of Zoroark on the following turn via use of Evosoda, Ultra Ball, draw Supporters, and Trade to establish a full field of Pokemon. Coupled with Choice Band, Kukui, and additional benched Pokemon, you can hit for up to 170 damage as early as turn two. If need be, you can duck hits with Acerola and remove any damage that’s built up, but besides that this is a very typical Zoroark build, just with the inclusion of Weavile (which makes it one hell of an interesting deck). There’s a couple of juicy cards in here that deviate it off of the normal, beaten path, and those niche differences are things that we’re going to view in depth. Today’s article isn’t a “Zoroark-GX” article, but rather an article that takes a scoped view of what goes into deck construction, deck chemistry, and improvements from player to player. Oh yeah, and we’ll also talk a lot about that little monkey in the corner, Oranguru. Let’s jump into some of the hot inclusions this quartet opted for in their identical lists.

Card Counts

4-4 Zoroark-GX

Zoroark-GX is our optimal attacker, and we want as many of these out as we possibly can get. By playing four copies of each card, we can properly ensure that we’ll set up many of them, while simultaneously reinstating the deck’s core consistency. Once you get one Zoroark-GX out, you can get multiple of them out due to Zoroark’s Trade ability. Trade can also aid in thinning the deck of any resources you don’t need in a game, and boosts your outs to drawing out of a low N to one card. With Darkness Energy in the deck, keep in mind that you can use Zoroark-GX’s Trickster GX attack in order to score surprise KO’s – this is unique and may catch people off guard considering most Zoroark-GX builds have traditionally opted against basic Darkness Energy in their lists.

1 Zoroark BKT

I really like this Zoroark in the list because it fits in with the energy requirements, but also allows you to not miss a beat with the deck. If you ever have a Pokemon trapped in the active that can’t attack, Zoroark’s Stand In ability will allow you to become mobile, and use Mind Jack as your attack for the turn. I love the fact that it can apply so much pressure on the opponent, all the while giving you means for a 1-Prize attacker. Many opponents will misplay against this Zoroark and bench a ton of unnecessary Pokemon, which is something we can take advantage of; in a metagame where Tapu Lele-GX is everywhere, this seems like a mighty fine inclusion in most lists. One is all that’s necessary in this style of list, considering we already have Weavile as a 1-Prize attacker (and Oranguru UPR as a backup). Generally speaking, this card is just something that we can Trade away if we don’t need it, and it gives us options.

2-1 Weavile

This I the real differentiator in the deck, so we’ll discuss for a minute the strong points of this card as our partner in crime for Zoroark. The main issue that Zoroark faces is that it has a lower damage cap as opposed to most attackers in the game – we need a way to break that damage cap and eventually overcome those high-HP Pokemon that are presented at tournaments. Since Weavile has a low-HP of only 90, we fully expect Weavile to go down the first hit it takes. We really only position a threat with its second attack, Evil Admonition – doing 50 damage per Pokemon with ability on the opponent’s side is a very killer attack! While purely situational, there are many Pokemon who have abilities. Here’s a brief list:

• Gardevoir GX’s “Secret Spring”

• Gallade “Premonition”

• Tapu Lele GX “Wonder Tag”

• Vikavolt “Strong Charge”

• Zoroark GX “Trade”

• Zoroark “Stand In”

• Octillery “Abyssal Hand”

• Oranguru “Instruct”

• Glaceon GX “Freezing Gaze”

• Leafeon GX “Breath of the Leaves”

• Eevee “Energy Evolution”

• Decidueye GX “Feather Arrow”

• Volcanion EX “Steam Up”

• Wimpod “Wimp Out”

• Hoopa “Scoundrel Guard”

• Carbink “Safe Guard”

• Carbink “Energy Keeper”

• Magnezone “Magnetic Circuit”

• Metagross GX “Geotech System”

• Mew EX “Versatile”

• Mew “Dawn of Memories”

• Giratina “Devour Light”

• Greninja BREAK “Giant Water Shuriken”

• Starmie “Space Beacon”

• Xuritree GX “Flash Head”

• Kartana GX “Slice Off”

• Lucario “Precognitive Aura”

This is a very small list of Pokemon in standard that are common in decks, and let me tell you – that list could go on forever. Abilities are within one of the most prominent mechanics noawadays, and are being pressured to be played more than ever. Weavile has a great way of punishing these plays with even just 2-3 ability Pokemon in play, and a Choice Band/Professor Kukui alongside it. I love how out of nowhere you can begin taking surprise KO’s with a single 1-Prize attacker. This can sometimes prevent people from even playing their Pokemon with abilities – why would you want your opponent to have another 50 damage available at their disposal? It’s pretty funny to watch your opponent debate whether or not to evolve a Zorua sometimes, which can create some fantastic plays for us! The second Sneasel copy in the deck allows for us to safely bench both Sneasel for Riotous Beating, all the while making it so that our opponent can’t knock them both out and isolate us away from evolving into Weavile.

1 Giratina

While in most decks I’d say this is an unnecessary inclusion, I really like it in here because it can be used as fodder for Zoroark GX’s Trade ability! Giratina makes it so that we’re able to take down Greninja-based decks, and take on their onslaught of Giant Water Shuriken. One Giratina makes it so that a matchup we’d normally lose becomes an automatic win (provided our deck sets up), so why wouldn’t we take those chances? I’m always down for a free win. It also acts as an extra basic for Riotous Beating, so it makes for a quick 1-card inclusion in our list.

1 Oranguru

While you’re probably thinking about the Oranguru with the “Instruct” ability, we’re actually talking about the one that recycles resources. This Oranguru is something that top level players tested recently and included in many of their Collinsville lists, mostly to recover key things such as DCE, Puzzle of Time, key Supporters, and random things that they may need at the time. Recovering Enhanced Hammer with Oranguru is one of the strongest plays a Zoroark player can make, and it can help to overrun our opponent with heavy energy denial. If you need more basic Pokemon? Oranguru can nab those back for you. Need one more N to close out a game? Never fear, Oranguru is here! Oranguru is kind of like our all-purpose tool that remind me of Sableye from Dark Explorers; retrieving important resources is a trend that’ll never go out of style, and I’m sure I’ll continue to see it perform well at events across the globe.

1 Mew EX

Mew EX is our self-pronounced Buzzwole GX killer – for only a DCE, it can copy Riotous Beating and OHKO a Buzzwole due to its Psychic-weakness. It’s vital that we keep this Pokemon in pla only in the Buzzwole matchup because in other matchups, it poses a liability on our board with its low 120HP. Since Mew is an EX Pokemon, it’ll be a free two Prize Cards for our opponent to pounce on, and in today’s metagame, 120 damage is quite easy to pull off. Mew EX can be very versatile (excuse my pun) in many matchups, pendant on which energy the opponent needs to attack. If they utilize strictly DCE, we’ll be able to copy their attacks too, so be mindful of that! Overall, this card is a slaughter for any Psychic-weak GX/EX, so we always pack on in our back pocket for this reason alone.

3 Field Blower

The heavy bought of Field Blower in this deck is attributed to the high amount of Garbodor that was played at the event – this new variant of Garbodor is one that makes it so that you can keep Garbodor online during your opponent’s turn, and turn it off during your own respectively. That version of the deck is able to do that due to the usage of Bursting Balloon, a Pokemon Tool that discards itself at the end of the opponent’s turn (thus deactivating Garbotoxin going back into your turn). You can break this cycle by using a Field Blower on it, and then cycling through all of your Trade abilities in order to find the next copy of Field Blower. Here’s the cycle of what the opponent will do:

• opponent attaches a Bursting Balloon to Garbodor

• Garbotoxin is activated going into your turn

• you take your turn; your turn ends

• the Bursting Balloon will be discarded

• opponent will find a new Bursting Balloon, and reattach it

• Garboxotin is reinstated

• rinse and repeat the process until all six Prize Cards are taken

By playing higher counts of Field Blower, we increase the chances of us having one in hand during the time that we undergo ability lock. Keep in mind you have to draw into these without using the Trade ability, so use them wisely!

1 Professor Sycamore

Since we’re using a deck that isn’t supposed to discard our hand, we don’t want to play too many Professor Sycamore! We’d rather opt to use Zoroark’s Trade ability to hoard cards in our hand, however utilizing a single copy of this powerful Supporter is something that we can’t overlook. When ability lock is present or we have a naturally low hand-size after being N’d or something, it’s vital to find a strong Supporter like Professor Sycamore to supplement our hand back to a large size. Professor Sycamore can’t be used all the time though because then we’d be discarding valuable cards such as Puzzle of Time, or perhaps DCE.

2 Cynthia

Cynthia is our newest inclusion into the deck, allowing us to shuffle/draw cards out of the deck whenever we want to with relative ease. I like Cynthia as a middle-ground Supporter that ranks somewhere between Sycamore and N – it gives us options. In this crazy game we call the Pokemon TCG, we always love it when they print us additional “options”, and Cynthia is one of those vanilla cards that are vital for decks now. I can see this card becoming a four-of in some decks due to its natural draw-power.

3 Brigette

Brigette is an optimal Supporter when it comes to setting up, allowing us to grab as many Zorua as we may need. Brigette is a card that becomes a lot more effective on the first turn of the game, and without it your start could potentially suffer many consequences! I feel as if I lose most games that I don’t start Brigette because my opponent will usually have their own Brigette. Regardless, this is a card that I never mind having copies of in my hand because once you’ve used your opening Brigette, feel free to chuck the rest away with our Trade ability – you can use really any “garbage” resource for Trade if you don’t need it in that specific matchup! This is part of the reason why Zoroark is such a machine: it can discard anything you don’t need after you’ve gotten utility out of it. This means that if you don’t need Giratina in a certain matchup, for example, you can discard it in Round 8 of a Regional Championships. However, if you do need it, in Round 7 it may come in handy against Greninja. I view three Brigette as a more versatile example of this, but nothing different nonetheless. This 3 Brigette trend was brought upon by none other than Tord Reklev.

Matchups

Gardevoir GX – Favoured

Against Gardevoir GX, this is an interesting matchup because it is completely reliant on how well the Gardevoir player can setup their board and get ahead. I feel as if most of the time, the Gardevoir player has a difficulty setting up, and the Zoroark player can just rush the Ralts/Kirlia very quickly in order to steal games. The Weavile in our deck allows for a surprise OHKO on a Gardevoir if there are ever four ability Pokemon in play, which can happen more often than not. With a Choice Band coupled with a Professor Kukui, you can add +50 damage onto which ever target you’d like, but keep in mind that Gardevoir has a -20 resistance to Dark so be vigilant of that. Their Gallade is pesky, but with our inclusion of Weavile we’re usually able to take it out in a single hit! If not, our Mew EX can come out to play and swiftly KO the Gallade provided we have a Zoroark GX in play. Enhanced Hammer really shines in this matchup, as it helps to keep the Gardevoir’s energy in check (and their damage cap within reason). Sometimes when you can’t control a Gardevoir’s energies, they can just run rampant on you and take all of their Prize Cards within the blink of an eye.

Zoroark/Golisopod – Slightly Favoured/Even

Against this style of Zoroark deck, we have a slight advantage over them – we have the element of surprise on our side, considering they may swarm Zoroark against us. The best wave of attack against this specific style of deck is to let them spawn off multiple Zoroark before we even bench a single Sneasel, concealing the fact we even play Weavile in our list. This way, it will make them play down all of their ability Pokemon and boost our damage cap the absolute fullest! We ultimately want to be able to OHKO either a Golisopod or a Zoroark in order to swing the prize trade into our favour. We can do this by using Weavile as our single prize attacker, and bating out their ability Pokemon with our Zoroark attacking. With the pressure Zoroark applies, we can bet our opponent will need as many Trades as possible in order to go toe to toe with us. Coupled with a couple copies of Enhanced Hammer, you can bet that we’ll be discarding all of their energy all game. Puzzle Of Time for two E Hammer is probably one of the most stunning plays I can make in this match, considering that they’ll be forced to trade with Goli. Any sort of Wimpods/Zorua we can clean up in the early game will make for less Prizes that we have to draw, so be sure to take those too.

Zoroark/Lycanroc – Favoured

This matchup is just like the previous one, but it’s even easier to accomplish our goal! Since the opponent is using Lycanroc GX, yet another Pokemon with an ability, it fuels our Weavile’s attack even quicker than before. The only scary thing that our opponent could potentially conjure up is using their Dangerous Rogue GX attack on us; this’ll be an OHKO on whichever Pokemon they want for sure, so we have to capitalize on E Hammer at all costs. Whenever we can discard our opponent’s Strong Energy or DCE off of their Lycanrocs, we’ll take it. Once they’re able to power up a single Lycanroc, they’ll be able to sweep our field up, so keep tabs on their dogs. Likewise, they’ll be sure to limit the amount of Pokemon with abilities in play in order to cap our Weavile. The trick? Make yourself have targets on the bench for them to bring up, so that at some point they’ll have to use Bloodthirsty Eyes, thus putting another ability into play. It’ll help you gain a better board position on your opponent, and ultimately help you in winning the game. Once again, try to just take out their Zoruas and Rockruffs before they become super buff against you, and take the easy prizes before they become difficult. Problem solved!

Buzzwole/Lycanroc – Even

This matchup is one that plays with fire – you have a Mew EX which is a golden bullet against Buzzwole, but your entire deck besides that is weak to Fighting-types. At this point, it becomes a huge balancing beam of who can preserve their main attackers the most, and then at the end of the game, it becomes a huge trade and you have to stay out on top (haha Trade, get it? More Pokemon puns I swear!). Hold your Mew EX until they absolutely have to start attacking with a Buzzwole, and have an escape plan ready so you can promote Mew EX and take the OHKO. This way, your opponent will question whether or not you play the Mew in the first place. They may try to come at you with a Lycanroc, but if applicable always Enhanced Hammer the dog. The Buzzwole can always be one shotted, however the Lycanroc is slightly more difficult for us to OHKO so be wary of that. Also, our Weavile is a lot weaker in this matchup due to our opponent’s main attacker having no ability. Their support Pokemon all have abilities (Octillery, Lycanroc, Tapu Lele GX), but if they’re intelligent then they’ll avoiding benching too many of these. This matchup can really swing depending on how many abilities they have to have in play, and whether or not they play Energy Switch. If they can Energy Switch onto a Lycanroc or something wild like that, then you’re probably in trouble – it’s too much for us to handle if they get a surprise Lycanroc in play. However, we can catch up by OHKOing Buzzswoles and other small KO’s on Rockruff. This is a huge back and forth matchup that requires a lot of testing in order to succeed at. In Malmo, both finalists were able to overcome Buzzwole/Lycanroc decks in the semifinals in order to race for victory!

Ho-Oh/Kiawe – Pendant

This is a matchup that I find interesting – it can sway completely depending on whether or not our opponent can nab a turn one Kiawe onto a Ho-Oh, because if we start first it becomes a whole different ball game. Like, the amount of pressure they gain from a turn two Ho-Oh is very overwhelming for our deck, but they also need tons of Choice Bands (or Steam Ups) in order to win the game. They also have several benched ability Pokemon, like Dawn Wings Necrozma GX, Tapu Lele GX, Volcanion EX, and Wobbuffet. Their Wobbuffet can aid in slowing us down, but against Weavile it provides too much extra damage. Most opponents will attempt to wall us with Wobbuffet while they Kiawe, but we can Guzma around it and get the first hit off on a Ho-Oh very early on. My best advice in this matchup is to avoid killing any Pokemon with abilities on their card, that way you can pull off a massive surprise OHKO with Weavile, either with Choice Band/Kukui or both. Likewise, they can also just stomp us with a single Ho-Oh firing off for 210 each turn, and recycling/refreshing to the bench with their DWN GX. Try to discard E Hammer with Trade whenever possible, because it will always be a dead card in this matchup. Keep in mind, some lists opt to include a 1-1 line of Salazzle GX, so that can sometimes slug us for some heavy damage (and sometimes a few KOs).

Dusk Mane Necrozma/Magnezone – Unfavourable

This is one of those random one-of matchups that are super weird, and you can’t do much about it. This was the second highest played deck at the Collinsville Regional Championships, and it left after nine rounds of play to very few placements. The deck itself is a powerhouse, but isn’t as consistent as people think because it is difficult to find Metal Energy. Once they’re out of the deck, you can get them back from the discard pile with Mount Coronet, but besides that they’re trapped. They’re just so beefy, don’t play many abilities, and are able to dish out OHKO after OHKO, so we can’t quite keep up with them. I mean, we can two shot them or kill the Magnezone in order to capitalize on our opponent not setting up a second one, but besides that it’s looking rough. Try to rush their Magnemite because sometimes they’ll whiff on their first turn Brigette or something; even if they have two Magnemite in play, I’d still try to take it out because that’s your very narrow window of winning.

The Alternative

In addition to this list that many players piloted to a high finish at both Regional Championships, there was also a fella who managed to win Malmo Regionals with the same deck concept! Adam Hawkins of Britain managed to take his list all the way to the top place, which is nothing to scoff at whatsoever. It’s interesting to wonder if Adam got the idea from the other four players, or if a certain amount of hype was gartered before this deck was even released. Surely this deck had much more of a representation in Europe, which is apparent by how many players played it. This deck is quite a strong contender; based on its low numbers, it packs a punch to note that the players who did pilot the deck performed very well. It is reminiscent of when John Kettler continuously piloted Decidueye/Vileplume back in the day and always placed highly – this is another one of those decks that you know can survive in the meta due to its low numbers to high performance ratio. Here’s Adam’s list from Malmo:

Energy (8)

Within Adam’s list, there are two key differences I’d like to discuss: the Zoroark BREAK in his deck, as well as the Devoured Field. I’ll also explain my take on the deck, and what I like in this deck as opposed to the base list we discussed earlier.

Zoroark BREAK

Ah, Zoroark BREAK! One of my favourite cards to have been released, I am in love with this card because it can be whatever you need it to be for a single Darkness Energy. Not to mention, it’s a single Prize Card given up to the opponent when it’s KOed, so what’s not to love? In order to allow for Zoroark BREAK to fit into the deck, Adam opted to include a second copy of the Zoroark BKT. I respect this decision, and would say that it gave him more strength in terms of getting the BREAK out as consistently as possible. The BREAK aids in many matchups that may otherwise cause us troubles – for example, let’s look at the Ho-Oh matchup. With Zoroark BREAK, we can effectively take out a full HP Ho-Oh for free with one Foul Play and a Choice Band. Against Buzzwole, we can OHKO them with their own Absorption or Knuckle Impact. Against Gardevoir, we can copy their own Infinite Force and take Kos that way! The possibilities are endless with Foul Play, and I think it’s a swell addition to the deck.

Devoured Field

Devoured Field is a nice addition to the deck in order to hit those extra numbers. For example, on the Malmo stream there once was an OHKO taken with a Weavile in combination with three ability Pokemon in play, a Choice Band, a Kukui, and Devoured Field all at once for a 210 damage OHKO on a Zoroark GX. This was a surprise play Adam pulled off which made him able to win over his opponent – things like this are what seperates a good player from a great player. Devoured Field is also another really nice out against Parallel City, too! I’d typically advise to play Reverse Valley over a copy of Devoured Field, but currently Metal Pokemon are becoming more popular so for now it seems that Devoured is superior (until Dragon Pokemon become very strong).

I personally enjoy how Adam has included more copies of Evosoda in order to spawn off more Zoroark GX, but he does this at the cost of minimizing Field Blower which I’m unsure is the right decision. While I wasn’t at the event, this decision was most likely based on the perceived amount of Garbodor that would be present. Adam also put in a Tapu Koko which is arguably the best inclusion in his list – being able to have a free retreater at all times is too valuable, and softening up Pokemon with Flying Flip is also something that I think is underrated. I remember playing at Wisconsin last year and remembering how many times Flying Flip numbers added up; they can score you KO’s out of nowhere, and that 20 damage spread should not be underestimated. While I favour the Schulz’s list overall, I can see the merit that Adam’s list has, and I’d probably play my own hybrid of the two.

Collinsville in Nutshell

Overall, there were many trends set by this event that made things interesting – for starters, the eventual winner Ian Robb played a next level Golisopod Zoroark decklist. It seems that the decks that are the most successful right now are the ones that are able to buff their damage out and hit for OHKOs. 2HKOs are becoming a way of the past, and the game is becoming more calculated and fast-paced. With more fast-paced nature, you’ll see buffer decks come out of the woodworks as well as thinner lines of tech attackers in order to take those down. You can see that trend evolution transgress with more Sudowoodo being played in Zoroark-GX builds alongside the everlasting Counter Energy. Other tech cards such as Mimikyu are also being teched in for the same purpose of defeating decks like Buzzwole, and so on and so forth. You’ll see that by the next standard Regional Championships, there will be more and more diversity of unique decks making cut, and not just Zoroark builds.

As for myself, the next Regional Championships I’ll be attending will take place in Toronto, Canada, just in the backyard of my hometown! This is forever my favourite event because it reminds me of the early days of when I first started playing Pokemon. It’s always nice to go back to your roots and discover why you love the game so much; Toronto holds this place in my heart very dearly for me. Here I am today with my modern successes, and I can still remember winning my first Regional Championships as a senior – let alone winning my first game as a junior in a sanctioned event. On a side note, Toronto Regionals is looking rather promising with a new organizer in charge, so stay tuned to see all of the updates on that and make sure to register when the page opens! It’s going to be a real treat for all the global visitors that are coming.

On an ending note, I’d like to thank everybody for the consistent support of my articles. As I haven’t been playing as much, I still love to stay up to pace on what’s going on and I always try to put my best foot forward as if I was going for a Day 2 invitation. It’s crazy to see what a little motivation can provide alongside a little bit of hardwork. Lately, I’ve been putting a ton of time into Costa Mesa, and trying to break the expanded format with Glaceon-GX. I think that the card is arguably one of the best to come out of Ultra Prism besides Cynthia, so I’m pumped to see how well it will take off. I’m giving all of my friends my list I’ve been testing, and I’m hoping that they’ll perform well with it. As for the next few events I’ll be at, they’ll all just be local League Cups, but feel free to shoot me a message online or just come chat with me at a tournament (I don’t bite). Until then readers, get lucky and run hot!